title: Serum concentrations of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and a polybrominated biphenyl (PBB) in men from Greenland, Poland and Ukraine.
abstract: Many brominated flame retardants (BFRs)-including polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs)-have been shown to persist in the environment, and some have been associated with adverse health effects. The aim of the present study was to quantify serum concentrations of common brominated flame retardants in Inuit men from across Greenland, and in men from Warsaw, Poland and Kharkiv, Ukraine. Serum was sampled between 2002 and 2004 from men 19 to 50years of age. 299 samples were analyzed for BDE-28, 47, 99, 100, 153, 154 and 183 and the brominated biphenyl BB-153 using gas chromatography-high resolution mass spectrometry. BDE-47 and BDE-153 were detected in more than 95% of samples from all three populations. All other congeners, except BDE-154, were detected in more than 70% of samples from Greenland; lower detection frequencies were observed in Polish and Ukrainian samples. Concentrations of individual congeners were 2.7 to 15 fold higher in Greenlandic relative to Polish and Ukrainian men. Geometric mean concentrations of the sum of the most abundant PBDEs of the Penta-BDE commercial mixture (BDE-47, 99, 100, 153 and 154) were 6.1, 1.7 and 0.87ng/g lipids in the Greenlandic, Polish and Ukrainian men, respectively. Furthermore, significant geographical differences in BFR concentrations were observed within Greenland. Principal component analysis revealed distinct clustering of samples by country of origin. The associations between ΣPBDEs and age were inconsistent, varying from no association in Greenlandic and Polish study populations to a U-shaped relationship in Ukrainians. We report BFR levels for three populations for which sparse biomonitoring data exists.
authors.affiliation: Division of Environmental Epidemiology, Institute for Risk Assessment Sciences, Utrecht University, P.O. Box 80.178, 3508 TD Utrecht, The Netherlands. Electronic address: V.C.Lenters@uu.nl.
authors.forename: Virissa
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Lenters
authors.forename: Cathrine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Thomsen
authors.forename: Lidwien A M
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Smit
authors.forename: Bo A G
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Jönsson
authors.forename: Henning S
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Pedersen
authors.forename: Jan K
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Ludwicki
authors.forename: Valentyna
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Zviezdai
authors.forename: Aldert H
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: Piersma
authors.forename: Gunnar
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Toft
authors.forename: Jens Peter
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Bonde
authors.forename: Georg
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Becher
authors.forename: Roel
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Vermeulen
authors.forename: Dick
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Heederik
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D004785:Environmental Pollutants / Q000097:blood*; D005411:Flame Retardants / Q000032:analysis; D008401:Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; D006116:Greenland; D055768:Halogenated Diphenyl Ethers / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011044:Poland; D011075:Polybrominated Biphenyls / Q000097:blood*; D014455:Ukraine; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D004785:Environmental Pollutants; D005411:Flame Retardants; D055768:Halogenated Diphenyl Ethers; D011075:Polybrominated Biphenyls
keywords: (P)BB; (P)BDE; (poly)brominated biphenyl; (poly)brominated diphenyl ether; AMAP; Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme; BFR; Brominated flame retardants; Congener profile; DF; Greenland; Human exposure; Inuit; LOQ; PBDE; brominated flame retardant; detection frequency; limit of quantification